This week more than 150 craft distillers from across the country gathered in Washington D.C. for a public policy conference with far-reaching implications for the industry. At stake is the two-year Federal Excise Tax (FET) cut, set to expire at year’s end. As part of the confab, the producers...

Just days ago the U.S. reached new trade agreements with Canada and Mexico that were expected to ratchet down tariff tensions. But now, new proposals to impose tariffs on wine and spirits from the E.U.—and last night’s announcement that the U.S. will impose levies on all products from Mexico—have roiled the...

If the tax break is allowed to expire this year, it could create a domino effect for producers—and the rest of the industry Illustration by Jeff Quinn. If the tax breaks that the U.S. alcohol industry has gotten used to over the past year expire at the end of...

Distillers weigh in on the benefits of joining the various industry organizations A craft whiskey distillery based in Portland, Oregon, recently received the largest purchase order in its 14-year history—not from someone in its local or regional market but from the other side of the world, in Australia. It...

Molly Troupe is a partner and the master distiller at Freeland Spirits, a gin and whiskey distillery in Portland, Oregon. Not only is she the youngest female master distiller in the U.S, but her equity in the company puts her and her over-30 business partner, Jill Kuehler, in elite...

October 23rd, 2018 by Samuel Western On a hot day in August, air hazy from the forest fires burning far to the west, I drove halfway across Wyoming to check out a new malting plant. Normally, I wouldn’t travel from Sheridan to Pine Bluffs—370 miles and back again in...

GWEN MCCLURE OCTOBER 13, 2018 Wine and beer may get more attention, but distilled spirits have a solid place in American culture and history. With how the industry has grown over the last decade, they’re set to be back in the limelight. We’re not knocking the classic vineyard tour...

While restoring the 1887-vintage Old Taylor Distillery in Frankfort, Ky., Will Arvin and Wes Murry, partners in the business, discovered abandoned train tracks on the property and a passenger depot once used by visitors arriving to tour the bourbon works. When it reopens in the fall, after a 40-year...

July 26, 2018 – To show their unity, leaders of the nine major whisky trade organizations planted an American White Oak tree on the corner of 9th and Main Street outside the Frazier History Museum in downtown Louisville following their first-ever summit meeting. Even before the first shovel of...

Distillery/Bar/Restaurant Hybrids Emerge Call them gastro-distilleries, still-bars or distillery pubs, there’s a new concept emerging in the on-premise cocktail arena. These are hybrid operations combining a fully functional distillery with a bar and restaurant service. There are just a handful of these crossbreeds scattered around the country. But as...

In the wake of tit-for-tat tariffs, America’s beloved liquid spirit is caught in the crosshairs of Washington’s escalating trade battle. In a collective strategic political punch, China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union have all slapped tariffs on America’s booming bourbon industry. The duties came in reaction to the...

Source: WhiskyCast Mark Gillespie June 18, 2018 The list of countries scheduled to impose import tariffs on Bourbon and other American-made whiskies has grown again, with China becoming the latest nation to challenge the Trump Administration’s hard-line stance on global trade. Over the weekend, Chinese officials announced plans to...